Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Yankees Monkey

Sometimes the kids bust out with the most random memories and I don't even know what to say. Molly's stuffed animals have had a long history of injuries. First there was the stuffed doll that Grandma got her for her birthday. Ever pushing the envelope, Grandma chose a nice boy doll of Asian heritage - which of course Molly had no interest in. We named him Hideki in honor of the great Yankee. Grandma very solemnly bandaged stuffed-Hideki when real-Hideki sprained his wrist. Every day Molly would ask if we could take the bandage off and every time Grandma would reply "not yet" until that exciting day when both real and pretend Hideki had healed.When Molly was around 3 her Dad and I went to a Yankees game and brought back Yankees monkeys for both girls. Kelly's lived a carefree and injury free life. But poor Molly's monkey was - alas - very delicate. He had several neck surgeries, and at least two and maybe three limb re-attachments. This was at least a year ago, and I think even two.

And then out of nowhere today, I hear her telling Kelly (who was upset her brand-new plastic Disney fairy's head had fallen off) about her Yankees monkey. "Kelly, Kelly, Kelly. Do you remember? My Yankees monkey? Daddy got it for me from the Yankees game? It had a little fluff sticking out of the neck? Grandma put a bandage on it? I couldn't touch it? And then after the bandage came off, the head still fell off! It was a very delicate monkey. Not like yours. Yours never had any problems. Well, your fairy is like my Yankees monkey. It is always going to give you trouble. The head will fall off. It won't stay on when you put it back. But grandma will try and fix it. Try. Some things are just really delicate, even if they get fixed."